NYCT second round of FASTRACK improvements declared a success

Metropolitan Transportation Authority New York City Transit wrapped up its second FASTRACK line segment closure successfully completing an ambitious schedule of work on the Seventh Avenue Line from 34 th Street-Penn Station to Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn. NYCT said it remains clear that the FASTRACK program is both a safer and more efficient way to maintain and clean a 24/7 subway system.

Transit employees inspected signals, replaced rails and ties, scraped roadbeds, cleaned stations and painted areas impossible to reach during normal train operation. Workers also took the opportunity to clean lighting fixtures, change bulbs and repair platform edges while performing intense levels of station cleaning, things that improve efficiency while also providing a visible improvement to the station environment.

"Looking at what we have accomplished during our first two rounds of FASTRACK makes me even more enthusiastic about this new way of conducting business. Workers can now perform tasks without being interrupted by passing trains and we are able to get to areas that would not be possible under normal train traffic," said NYC Transit President Thomas Prendergast. "One of the more visible things we are able to accomplish is the scraping and painting of station ceilings, something that cannot be done when trains are running."

During the four-night series of shutdowns, 800 maintenance workers each night completed more than 400 tasks, an effort that would have taken months under normal operations. Work included:

The area of operation stretched a distance of seven miles from Midtown Manhattan to Downtown Brooklyn and included nearly 20 miles of track.

The next two FASTRACK overnight closures will be on the Sixth Avenue BDF lines from February 27 to March 2 and on the Eighth Avenue ACE lines from 59 th Street-Columbus Circle to Jay Street-MetroTech for four consecutive nights beginning Monday, March 12.